As you can tell from my last post, I have been on the recieving end of quite a few interviews lately. But on the flip side, I have also been performing just as many interviews myself on behalf of AfterHours.

So when did I miss the big shallowing of the talent pool?

The last time I helped an employer with interviewing, there was a certain quality bar that everyone recognized. People with skills below that bar were not submitted. People above the bar were submitted for consideration - and almost always at an hourly rate that was in line with their experience level (we are talking contractors here).

This time however, I continue to be surprised - nay, astounded - at the audacity of recruiters that have been submitting resumes to us for consideration. Easily four out five have been so incredibly overinflated that once it gets to a real interview, the candidate cannot support their own resume claims. For example, I interviewed a person only a few days ago that claimed to be a "senior .NET developer" and "proficient with SQL Server". Yet this person was unable to answer correctly a single basic technical question in either subject area. I wish this were the exception, but it is seemingly the norm. I am sorry, but when a contractor is presented as "senior" with a billing rate approaching $100/hour, they had damn well be able to stand up to a basic technical interview.

I won't even talk about the cases (yes, plural) where the person being interviewed was obviously not even the same person described on the resume itself...

Now granted not all submissions have been so bad. Most from Circle Consulting and Project Solutions have been relatively solid (or at least acceptable).

Recruiters: you need to get your act together. I think you need to pass the same certifications that we (developers, architects, etc) need to pass. You need to understand the technologies so that you can adequately screen these people out before their resumes make it to us (and piss us off enough to never call on you again). I mean, isn't that YOUR JOB??

Job Seekers: Stop lying on your resumes. Dishonesty on a resume is the BEST way to ensure that you will be passed up by an employer. You might be able to bullshit your way past the recruiter's screening process, but you aren't going to make it any further than that, and you definately will not survive long once your new employer discovers that you really don't posess the skills they asked for.

OK, I have blown off enough steam for now. I know it won't make one iota of a difference, but it at least makes me feel better to shout into the \dev\null abyss...

You may have noticed that I have not posted anything new in approximately 3 or 4 weeks (and somewhat sparse in the couple of weeks prior to that). No, I have not grown tired of blogging (not by a long shot) - I have simply been exceptionally busy lately.

Busy with what you may ask?

Well, over the last few months I have endured what can best be described as a barrage of technical and personal interviews with various consulting firms. Most notably, about twelve interviews from Microsoft groups (MCS), most of which I suspect were designed to "break my spirit". I even flew out to Phoenix and Seattle at one point. I will give this one bit of advice to anyone currently in the MCS interview process (or considering it): Do your homework. They will expect you to know their vocabulary for project roles and stages... especially the MSF Team Model. It would be very beneficial to know beforehand the differences between Program, Project, and Product managers. And also - many interviewers will purposely drill as deeply into a subject as necessary to find your limits. This means that you will not get every question right... just be honest about what you do and do not know (self-assessment is very important, and they compare this to their own assessment).

In the end, I decided that at least for now Microsoft is not the best place for me to continue building my consulting career. I chose instead to accept an offer from Intellinet, a consulting firm based here in Atlanta. This allows me to remain in the Atlanta area, where I can continue to be very active in the user community (which I enjoy greatly). The people I have met at Intellinet seem to be very honest, personable, and technically skilled. I have no doubt that I will enjoy working with them in this next stage of my career.

Lastly, if anyone is interested in joining (as either an FTE or contract senior developer, working with .NET 2.0 and possibly SQL 2005) a great group of developers, DBA's, and analysts I would definately recommend my former employer. They were a very enjoyable group to work with.